Militants say they’ll kill U.N. workers

KABUL, Afghanistan – Three kidnapped U.N. election workers appeared frightened but otherwise well in a videotape aired Sunday on the al-Jazeera satellite television network. Their kidnappers, in telephone calls to news agencies, threatened to kill the hostages in 72 hours unless U.N. and foreign troops withdrew from Afghanistan, and Taliban and al-Qaida prisoners were freed from U.S. military jails.

The three hostages – Annetta Flanigan of Northern Ireland, Shqipe Habibi of Kosovo and Angelito Nayan, a Philippine diplomat – were shown huddled together and sitting cross-legged on a floor. The three were abducted Thursday.

Jaish-e-Muslimeen, or Army of Muslims, a splinter group from the ousted Taliban government, issued a set of demands. The group called for the United Nations to cease operations in Afghanistan. It also demanded that the United States free all prisoners held at its detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and other U.S. prisons in Afghanistan.